Could Tide end up in Memphis or Nashville?

By Monday morning, almost everyone has had a say about what went wrong for Alabama this season, what led to another November swoon, what led to the dashed expectations, and all that. We've gone over the problems, which are the same issues that have lingered since the loss to Mississippi State. And yes, it includes lack of toughness (sorry guys) -- both mental and physical. Following the 17-10 loss to Auburn in the Iron Bowl, it's clear the Crimson Tide has problems.

Before I get to bowl specifics (and my article details a bunch of them), here is what Darwin said about Alabama:

"I guess the question to us is, 'Would we like to have Alabama back?' " Darwin said. "The answer is yes. I think the scenarios are different this year than last year. ... I know the season didn't turn out with the expectations they started with, but I think what I have seen of Alabama bodes well for next year and for years to come. To me, it's two completely differently environments from this year to last year."

So it's Alabama and South Carolina at 6-6 for that final spot, right? And 7-5 Mississippi State and Kentucky get picked ahead of them, right? Well, not exactly. That's what I wrote about and here is what The State newspaper in South Carolina wrote.

Darwin (and the SEC office) explained to me that the rule states bowls can choose a 6-6 team over a 7-5 team, provided that there is still an SEC bowl slot available for the 7-5 team. That led Darwin to say this:

"Everything I'm reading the media says that Alabama or South Carolina, one has to go to the Independence Bowl because a 7-5 team has to go first," he said. "Well, not necessarily. The conventional wisdom would be that a 7-5 team goes before a 6-6 team. But considering it's Alabama and South Carolina, depending on which bowl you're talking about, we don't necessarily know that's an absolute. Crazier things have happened this year."
How could it play out? Here is a hypothetical:

"Let's say the Liberty Bowl decided to say, 'We want Alabama instead of Mississippi State," Darwin explained. "Then our hand would be forced, and we'd have to take Mississippi State over South Carolina."

So what's going to happen this week?

"We'll talk to the administrations this week, as will other bowls," Darwin said. "We'll ask them, 'What's your feeling, what's your take, how would you market our game to your fan base?' Those are conversations that us, the Liberty and Music City are going to have with Alabama and South Carolina. We'll all hopefully make decisions based on those conversations."